Nesco FD-1040 Gardenmaster Digital Pro Food Dehydrator, for Beef Jerky, Fruit, Herbs, and Snacks, 4 Trays, White

I got this dehydrator three days ago and it's been used everyday since. I've never made any type of jerky before and the stock Nesco flavor is just okay using lean ground beef but making jerky from muscle meat and making your own sauce mix from recipes online this thing really shines.The first day we over did the spices and man that stuff was killer hot and the second day we backed off with some of the HOT spices which was good but not as good as the hot stuff is. Today we did some pineapple chunks which was far better than the dried sugary retail products.On the control panel there are only four buttons start/stop, increment UP, increment DOWN, time/temp and the L.E.D. display. Once it's plugged in there is continuous power to the unit until it's unplugged meaning the LED's remain lit. first press of the time temp button lets you set the temp, the second press of time/temp lets you set the cycle time in 30 minute increments using the UP/DOWN buttons.Once you set your temp and duration you then just press start and wait for it to time out and turn off the heating mechanism. It is a well made product that won't require watching (but I wouldn't leave home with it running) and to be fair, I wouldn't leave home with a crock pot running either.If you get one of these you'll also be shortly looking for a food sealing outfit if you don't already own one. Together these will save you some serious money if you have a larger household. I really should have looked into this a long time ago.EDIT: Quick Start/Tips/Lessons Learned!Having used this dehydrator a few weeks now and mixed a few different flavor mixes I thought I'd update this review to remove some of the mystery in making good jerky and help newbies starting out.Making jerky can be done 2 ways. By using lo-fat ground beef, or muscle cut meats i.e. top round, bottom round, or London broil cuts.If you are using ground beef along with the Nesco seasoning kits you'll be in good shape. However when you adventure to make muscle cut jerky with a 'Sweet & Spicy' recipe from allrecipe dot com. After mixing all the wet & dry ingredients it didn't occur to me that I was missing a crucial ingredient to the mix! It was 'The Cure' that comes in the Nesco kits!So if your mixing your own flavoring be sure to purchase some brand of meat curing salt that has 4 to 6% of Sodium Nitrite (if you plan to vacuum seal and freeze your jerky.) This isn't normally a problem since the jerky you make will will be quickly consumed by family and friends. If your going to freeze it use the salt and also get the oxygen absorber packets to throw in your vacuum seal pouches or it will spoil rapidly.Another observation I found was that the ground beef jerky was much more softer than the muscle cut jerky even extruded at twice the thickness of top round slices.Another observation was that the times quoted made the jerky more tuff and to compensate to get a more softer and juicy kind of jerky I lowered the time from 7 to 4 hours. It makes the flavor more pronounced. If you have additional/extra trays in your dehydrator then just increase the time.Now that there is abundant low cost jerky around I put some in the food processor and reduced it to shred and put that into both baked and pinto beans while they cook. It works pretty well in those side dishes.If you like it hot, forget adding extra measures of peppers, and tweak the Ginger.If you like it sweeter, tweak the pineapple juice.

I bought this a couple months before COVID, thank goodness! The price has gone up 40% since then. Maybe a coincidence. I can't be sure. My dehydrator has been working great though and shortly after I bought it I realized I needed a few more trays and screens. I don't use the type for making fruit rolls except when I'm dehydrating something that will get very messy or small. If you want a less expensive dehydrator, it's worth the money. I love the timer and the temperature setting. Washing it is a pain but I have an extra large sink on the one side and can submerge the entire tray into it. Wash them under the water or you'll end up spraying water everywhere.The picture shows a 1 quart mason jar (1 liter) with 8 large onions. I used 6 full trays. It was humid, not hot, and took a total of 2 1/2 days. I don’t trust ANY appliance to run overnight or when we’re not home so it was 2 1/2 days, no nights. Set at 135 degrees. I did lose quite a few pieces because I didn’t pour onto a cookie sheet first.4 year update:There is a definite learning curve for the appliance.- Get more of the screens, everything should go on the screen because it will shrink and fall through the slots.- Smelly things like onions will stink up your house, if you’re able to, do the first few hours either outside or a screened porch.- The humidity in the air greatly affects the drying time so drying outside, on a humid day will take forever.- Use a mandolin or other chopper to keep pieces the same size for consistent drying times.- When you’re done, empty the food onto a cookie sheet and then pour from the cookie sheet in the jars or storage container. The hole in the middle of the screen and the open edges of the tray, makes it impossible to transfer straight to a jar, even when using a wide funnel. Dropping 20 pieces of dehydrated carrots means 3-4 carrots on the ground.-It’s loud. Not uncomfortable loud but I can hear it from a distance and it’s noticeable when it turns off and is suddenly quiet in the house. The noise is consistent and would probably help a baby sleep instead of waking her.***If you are exceptionally sensitive to hot pepper, not dehydrate them inside.***

You will be delighted with this one. can put up to `12 trays on it and WOW does it work fantastic. Would buy again. Actually thinking of it for Hot Peppers.

I had the Garden Master for 10 years used it every summer sometimes in the winter for something. Dried herbs Fruit garlic onions and more. was always very happy with it but I think since the motor and the fans at the bottom over the years it got clogged up and overheated and burned up the fan recently. so I ordered this one and I see having the ban and heater at the top is a good improvement On a night of my already like anyway very much. Stuff can't filter down from the trays and clog it. This one came with one screen tray and one solid tray besides The main trace where the previous model had the two extra Trays for jerky and smaller items for every tray. But that keeps the cost down I can buy more. I'm very pleased with it.